When I picked up It Ends With Us to read, I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I’d seen the hype, of course, on Tiktok and Instagram. Everyone was talking about how Colleen Hoover “ruined them” with this book. I rolled my eyes thinking it was just another over-hyped romance. But wow… I was wrong. This book isn’t the typical love story but it made me to start thinking about some things like how blurry the line between love and hurt is, and how hard it is to just walk away from someone who means the world to you
The Book's Plot
It Ends With Us is thirty-five chapter book. It tells us about Lily Bloom. A smart and determined woman trying to live her life on her own terms after growing up in an abusive home. She moves to Boston, opens her own flower shop.
Then she meets Ryle Kincaid, a neurosurgeon. A first he seems to be everything she’s looking for. Their chemistry is undeniable and Ryle’s rules against relationship begins to fade with Lily around. But the perfect beginning doesn’t last forever.
When some certain things, like Ryle hitting her, starts to repeat themselves, things Lily swore she would never tolerate, she has to revisit her past, and the possibility that love isn’t always enough. Just to add drama to the situation, Atlas Corrigan, her first love from years ago, shows up out of the blue. He became her comfort whenever she meets it rough with Ryle, who’s now her husband.
Lily was the heart of the story and what I loved most about her was her strength. I’m talking the bravery to walk away from someone you love, to choose peace over passion and your children future over your current comfort. And I can’t even begin to discuss Atlas. He was like breathing fresh air in the middle of smoke.
I think what I liked more about the book is how Collen Hoover didn’t villainize anyone. Even Ryle, who did terrible things, isn’t shown as a monster. Which makes it all the more heartbreaking. It would be easier if the bad ones were just bad. But life doesn’t work like that. Lily’s internal batter was so painfully real. The childhood flashbacks and journal entries made me see the way trauma can persist in person for years, until it explodes. And it reminded me that because someone “doesn’t mean to” hurt you, doesn’t obligate you to keep accepting it.
The title… It Ends With Us… feels like a declaration of generational healing, of someone finally standing up and saying “This cycle stops with me” and I loved it. I think this book is one of the most necessary books I’ve read lately. It’s not just a love story.
Rating
It Ends With Us isn’t really a comfortable read but it’s a necessary one. It will make you think and it might even just make you braver. If you’ve ever judged someone for staying in a toxic relationship, or if you’ve ever struggled leaving one yourself, this book might change the way you see things.
I’d rate this book a 9/10. Definitely worth a read.
Image is a screenshot from my E-library